Scraper for fountain blades



Jan. 27, 1948.

G. J. K|EF SCRAPER FOR FOUNTAIN BLADES Filed Feb. 5, 1946 Patented Jan. 27, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT sic "SCRAPER FOR FOUNTAIN BLADES GcorgeJ. .Kief, Norwood, Ohio Application February 5, 1946, Serial No.-645,634

Claims. 1

This invention relates to a new and improved cleaning implement.

. Qne-otthe objects-of thisinvention is to. provide a simple :and expeditious means of removing .accumulatedencrusted ink, .adhesive,:.or other'forms of coating substancefrom fountain'blade edgesof machinery; applyingsaid substances insome stage of .a zprocess.

xAnotherzobiect of this invention isto provide an inexpensive .tool .for removing aforementioned accumulated encrusted ink, adhesive, or other substance.

.Another objectisto prov-idea meansof removing .an accumulation of thickenedink or other substance-from machinery which applies saidsubstance without the necessity of dismantlingpart of-isaid machinery for'cleaning purposes.

These and other objects areattained by the means described herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

..Flg. lis aperspective-viewof the cleaning implement.

Fig. 2 is a side view, partly in cross-section,-of the ink fountain portion of a printing .press, showingapplication of the cleaning implement.

Becauseof'the construction of certain types of printingzpresses, it has been difiicult in the past to .removeaccumulated thickened, dried, or encrusted ink from the edge of the bottom plate 01' blade of the ink reservoir withoutdismantli-ng the reservoir section or other parts of ctherprinting press, a process involving a great deal of time with consequent .loss :of production. The same is-true of other types of equipment, such as machineswhich apply-adhesives. varnishes, and othercoatings-of various-kinds and which require cleanings'from time to time.

With the present. invention these cleaning. operations, which are necessary atfrequent intervals, have beenwery'greatly simplified, as illustrated in Fig. 2, where the application of the cleaning implement 3 is shown in cross section.

IIhe cleaning implement 3.11s, shown -in Fig. 1, is made from a curved sheet oflmetal perforated at 4 and 5, and having a forward edge thereof provided with serrations or teeth 6 forming cutting'orscraping points across the edge of the tool. 'Iliese'teethor serrations will hebeveledatran angle "to conform substantially with the angle created between the face of .rolll9xand the'edge 1'8 of "plate l2 in Fig. 2, inorder to :produce a clean scraping operation. The serrated edge of the tool preferably is somewhat greater in length than thetopposite orrear'edge 'l .for thepurpose of saving metal and reducing .weight. The apertures 4 and 5, suitably spaced along the longitudinal axis of the. tool, are simply grips: in which the tips :of the thumb and fingermay be partially introduced, tograsp the tool when in use. The margins of the apertures 6 and 5 may "be em'bossed'orflanged, ii desired, as shown at ii in Fig.2. 'Thei'lengt'h.of'thetool may conveniently approximate half :the acircumference of the roll '9, the .arcuacy of the 112001 :also corresponding substantiallywith the curvature of the roll :9.

.In Fig. 2, :the .ink roll-29 'is a long steel roller of la printingrpress, the function-of Said/T011536- ing .toipi'cktup liquid ink i=5 fromreservoir 3H, and to'transfer-a ,film of ink thus picked up to anadjacentroll-whichin turn applies it directly or indirectly to the type, plates or other object-tobeicoated. The ink reservoir I Lis applied in leakproof relationship to the ends of the steel .roll .9, and the reservoir. has a bottom plate .I 2 .with an edge :18 that lightly contacts the steel roll 9 lengthwisethereof from end'to end. The thickness of 'the :ink film delivered to roll -9 may be governed by adjusting reservoir bottom plate or blade I2 to and from the ink :roll 9. Theadjusting meansimay comprise simply a :row of adjusting screws H4 threaded through openings-in the-support J5. .Bracket 4 .whichzis .attached to the printing press frame i'l, supports the ink reservoiror fountain.

.In the operationof a printing press the :ink roll 9 is revolved in the directionof the arrow, causingztheroll to-pass through-the reservoir or fountain of ink In. The face of said roll delivers afilmofink thethickness of which is con-- trolled at 1.3 bythe aforementioned adjusting means. After a printing press is thus operated fora period of time, .itistobe appreciated that a certainamounttof ink will escape fronrthe reservoir and cling to the butt edge 13 of the bottom .plate or .blade .lzand become caked or encrusted thereon. In time this accumulation of dried orucakedlink on edge It will preventan even distribution .'.of ink to the .ink roll, thus creating aseries of rin s of thin ink on the ink roll, saidrings of inklbeing toothinfor uniform printing results. iIIn the ,past, when this condition was created by the accumulation of en crusted ink on the reservoir bladeedge Iii, it was necessary to dismantle the reservoir or fountain mechanism in .order to remove these encrustet-ions',',.'because the "limited space between roll ll and frame I! made it virtually impossible to gain access to edge l8 for cleaning purposes. These dismantling operations "caused the's'hutdown oi the equipment for unduly long periods of time;

"Now, with the present invention, when thickenedink accumulates :on edge It of blade 12, so

as to interfere with the proper delivery of ink to the ink rolL'the press operator merely picks up one of the cleaning implements such as 3, and applies it manually to the steel roll as indicated on Fig. 2, and by means of the finger grips 4 and 5 he is able to shift the tool longitudinally of the roll, with the teeth or serrations 6 in scraping contact with the edge l8 of blade or plate 12. One or two sweeps of the tool along said edge will dislodge all dried or accumulated ink therefrom, an operation requiring only a minimum loss of production time.

The present invention will also serve a useful purpose in cleaning edge l8 of accumulated ink when it becomes necessary to change the ink in the reservoir from one color or grade to another color or grade, thus obviating the possibility of accumulated ink of one color on edge I8 mixing with ink of another color in reservoir ll. Thus it will be seen that it is not necessary to dismantle the reservoir or fountain when changing inks in order to clean the reservoir, thereby saving a great deal of valuable time.

The straight edge 7 of the cleaning implement 3 may also be used for cleaning purposes, as for instance, in removing thickened ink from the upper face or surface of blade l2. Likewise, the edges l9 and 20, Fig. 1, may be utilized for cleaning purposes, each of said edge being on a fiat plane and at right angles to the curved surfaces of the implement. By placing the implement 3 on its side on a flat surface such as the upper surface of blade i 2, with edge l9 or 20 in contact with said flat surface, a scraping or cleaning operation may be performed by merely pushing the cleaning implement back and forth over the surface to be scraped or cleaned. Edges I 9 and 20 will effectively remove accumulated encrustetion of ink or other matter from the link roll 9 by sliding the cleaning implement longitudinally of said ink roll, when the implement 3 is in the position shown in Fig. 2.

This cleaning implement 3 is normally removed from the ink roll 9 when the press is in operation, and placed within easy access of the press operator, to be used when required.

This new and improved cleaning implement may also be used as a means of removing encrustrations from the reservoir blades or plates of other machines such as those which apply adhesives, varnishes or other coating substances in a manner similar to that of the printing press illustrated in Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawmg.

It is to be understood that the tool or imple ment 3 may be furnished with finger grips or handle means of a type other than is illustrated upon the drawing, and that various other modifications and changes in structural details may be made, within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the body of thetool or implement might be formed from a. material other than metal, with a serrated edge portion of metal fixed thereto.

What is claimed is: 1. A a new article of manufacture, a, fountain blade edge cleaning tool comprising a curved 4 edge comprising a straight line of cutting teeth, each of said teeth being beveled to conform with an angular relationship of the fountain blade edge to the fountain roller.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a fountain blade edge cleaning tool comprising a curved elongate body portion arched lengthwise thereof to substantially embrace part of the periphery of a fountain roller, said body portion including a forward cutting edge materially shorter than the length of the roller and arranged transversely of the major axis of the body portion, said cutting edge comprising a straight line of cutting teeth, at least some of said teeth being beveled to conform with an angular relationship of the fountain blade edge to the fountain roller, and finger grip means on the body portion to facilitate shifting of the tool along the length of such roller.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a fountain blade edge cleaning tool comprising a curved elongate body portion arched lengthwise thereof to substantially embrace part of the periphery of a fountain roller, said body portion including a forward cutting edge materially shorter than the length of the roller and arranged transversely of the major axis of the body portion, and finger grip means on the body portion to facilitate shifting of the tool bodily along the length of the roller, said grip means being in the form of spaced openings in the body portion.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a fountain blade edge cleaning tool comprising a curved elongate body portion arched lengthwise thereof to substantially embrace part of the periphery of a fountain roller, said body portion including a forward cutting edge materially shorter than the length of the roller and arranged transversely of the major axis of the body portion and comprising a line of cutting teeth at least some of which are beveled to conform to the fountain blade edge bevel.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a fountain blade edge cleaning tool comprising a curved elongate body portion arched lengthwise thereof to substantially embrace part of the peripher of a fountain roller, said body portion including a serrated forward cutting edge materially shorter than the length of the roller and arranged transversely of the major aXis of the body portion, the serrations providing a, line of cutting teeth of which at least some are beveled to conform with an angular relationship of the fountain blade edge to the fountain roller, and finger grip means on the body portion to facilitate shifting of the tool bodily along the length of the roller, said grip means being in the form of spaced openings in the body portion.

GEORGE J. KIEF.

REFERENCES CITED The following references file of this patenti UNITED STATES PATENTS are of record in the Date T 

